Pāṇinian Lexical Functional Grammar

Abstract

In this paper I present an implementation in LFG of kāraka theory, the model of argument structure developed by the ancient Indian linguist Pāṇinian in his grammar of Sanskrit, the Aṣṭādhyāyī. This implementation contributes to the goal of modelling and analysing Pāṇinian grammar in modern theoretical terms; from the perspective of LFG, it contributes an exploration of the capacity of LFG as a model of grammar, and more specifically speaks to the question of grammatical functions as primitives of the theory.